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Chicago Is No. 1 When It Comes To Talk Show Audiences

April 18, 1993|By Marla Hart. and Marla Hart is a Chicago free-lance writer who covers the television industry.

Chicago is fast becoming the de facto talk show capital of the country. The Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones shows are all produced here and a fourth, Bertice Berry, is set to begin taping this summer in Chicago with a Sept. 13 premiere date on WFLD-Ch 32.

Forget about the hog butcher stuff; meet the talking heads of the world.

Chicagoans are seen nationwide as a combination Grabowski/Greek chorus. As audiences, they embody a down-to-Earth sensibilty-"He's a pig!"-while giving voice to community values. Says Oprah Winfrey producer Debra DiMaio: "They tap into the unconscious minds of the country and are a living organic energy. They are a key element of the show-there's Oprah, there's the guests and there's the audience."

Producers agree that the quintessential Chicago audience is Middle America, middle of the road, Midwestern with extra added attractions of ethnic and age diversity. The accent is every man's, and we don't show up for nationally televised shows in beachwear.

"Our audiences definitely take on the personality of the city," says DiMaio. "They reflect Midwestern values. They are outgoing. And-nothing against Los Angeles or New York-their lifestyle is more humane."

Terry Weible Murphy, Springer's producer, puts it another way: "You know how when we're at home, we all talk to our TV sets? Well, the (Chicago) studio audience asks the very questions you'd be shouting at your TV at home. They're very savvy. You can't get away with things with them."

Peter Marino, 20th Century programming exec, says Bertice Berry, a stand-up comic with a Ph.D. who has lived here for the past four years, hand-picked Chicago as the locale for her talk show even though L.A.-based producers wanted to tape the show on the West Coast.

"You can talk to anyone in talk and they all say Chicago has the best studio audiences in the world," says Marino, who has previously produced for Phil (as in Donahue, who started it all), Geraldo and Joan. "They're direct, there's no b.s. They are genuine and enthusiastic."

Jenny Jones likes Chicagoans because we're not jaded. "In Los Angeles, audiences are so accustomed to game shows and sitcoms produced out there that they're so laid back," she says. "Here it's like a special event. As a big city, people are in tune with what's going on; they have sophistication. But it's still friendly."

Talk shows draw hardcore city dwellers, suburbanites, and lots of tourists-nearly 40 percent of talk-show audiences are comprised of out-of-towners, who are here to visit a museum, see a Cubs or Sox game, get tickets for the Oprah show. In a town that has as its biggest celebrities sports figures and politicians, talk shows provide a welcome shot of show biz.

At a recent Oprah taping, Mt. Prospect resident Lynn Brady and her sister-in-law Tracy Greer, who flew in from Cleveland for the day, finished fixing their hair and makeup and settled into their studio seats.

"It's so cool," said Greer, who waited two months before she got tickets for the day's program subject is Mothers Who Are Blamed For All Their Children's Ills. "I'm not nosy by nature," said Greer in a red polka dotted dress, "but I'm going to ask a couple of questions."

When Winfrey came out she immediately walked into the audience, where she would stay for the entire show. Women from Pennsylvania in town for a food processor convention discussed a chicken recipe with her. Winfrey asked a fan/artist who had done an oil portrait of her "did you make me look cute, did you trim my behind?"

"Oprah, you look good," shouted a threesome. "What did you expect," she laughed.

Throughout the taping, Winfrey bantered with audience members from Arlington Heights to the Netherlands.

The rule of thumb for the shows is that audience members do not know the topics in advance. And any publicist worth her salt will say it doesn't matter. "They come to see Oprah." "They come to see Jerry." "They come to see Jenny."

How does one get to be a member of the Midwest's largest peanut galleries? All shows will reserve tickets either by mail or by phone with a two-week advance notice required. For "Oprah Winfrey," call 312-591-9222; "Jenny Jones," 312-836-9485; "The Jerry Springer Show," 312-321-5365 (or by mail, P.O. Box 4115, Chicago, Ill. 60654).

Hotels such as the Ritz Carlton and the Fairmont sometimes pass out tickets at the concierge desk. To attract a diverse audience, the Jones staff does direct marketing, cross promotions with radio stations, and Jones herself makes personal appearances. Springer staffers looking for a hard-to-find group (parents who teach their kids to be racist for example) contact schools and do radio promos. Special interest groups for Oprah are often discovered during phone-ins.

The shows tape twice daily, three days a week (Winfrey from her Harpo Studio west of the Loop, Jones and Springer from their studios in the NBC Tower just east of Michigan Avenue, and Berry from WTTW-CH.11 studios on Chicago's Northwest Side).